to pray for us as we try to speak to you from the Lord's Word once again. We trust that God will bless the reading of His Word as well as its explanation and expounding. This morning I want to open our Bibles to the 45th Psalm of David. Psalm chapter 45. Psalm 45 is a wedding psalm. It's a wedding psalm between a king and a queen. And I believe that in our study of this psalm together, we're going to see a portrayal of King Jesus and the queen, His church. I believe that in the prophetic cues of the working of the Holy Spirit, God imparted to David a view of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. In our lives we have seen many weddings, and it's a joyous time in the life of a pastor. when the people in His church are brought together in such a way as to bind them in holy matrimony. It's one of the sweetest times in pastoral ministry when we can sit down with a man and a woman and discover how the love that they possess for one another might be magnified through the act of holy matrimony. Marriage, of course, is the first institution that God gave man, isn't it, in Genesis chapter 2? We find that. We find it's actually instituted before government, before any social laws were imparted. God instituted the family. He instituted marriage. And it's such a heart-rending thing for us to live in a generation that has misunderstood and misapplied the gift of marriage. Marriage is a beautiful thing that is created by God, not only for the happiness and completion of man, but for the propagation of the truth that God imparts to men concerning Himself. So when we talk about a wedding song, we're going to talk about the king, and then we're going to see some of the pictures that we know about the queen. Now I'm going to read the 17 verses, and read with me if you'd like, and then we'll come back and try to unpack the beauty in this psalm itself. David writes, My heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of the things which I made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men. This is referring to the king. The king is going to be described in the first nine verses here. Notice he says, Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever. gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty, and in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness, and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. King's daughters were among thy honorable women. Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in the gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thine ear. Forget also thine own people in thy father's house. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. and the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. Even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. The king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework. The virgins of her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever. May the Lord bless the reading of His Word. It's interesting to me as we see this prophetic view of Christ and His Church, that King David would emphasize the sovereignty of God all over time as well as eternity. And David begins this great psalm with an introduction. If you'll notice the introduction here, it says, The majesty and grace of Christ's kingdom to the chief musician upon Shoshanim. Shoshanim is lilies. in the Hebrew tongue. For the sons of Korah, Korah was the director of the songs that were offered up in the temple or the tabernacle. This is the introduction. And mashkil is the Hebrew word for instruction. In other words, this is an instructive psalm. This is not a psalm that's just put there to sound pretty. It's put there to instruct God's people and to counsel us concerning the God who has given us a revelation of Himself and of His church. And then he says, a song of loves. And notice it's plural. A song of loves. It's a song that embraces all the various aspects of the love of God. Now why is he emphasizing this? Because love is the motivating cause of election. Love is the motivating cause of election. And we know from the Word of God that this kind of love, this agape love, this sacrificial love, this divine love that God has manifested in His Son, Jesus Christ, is an eternal love. He says in Jeremiah 31, verse 3, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. See, it's an effectual, eternal, unchanging love that he has for his people. We need to remember this. It's the love of God manifested in the giving of the king and the providing, the drawing of the queen. Now he says, in this context. He says, My heart is indicting a good matter. That word indicting there is an interesting word study by itself. It means to boil over, to bubble up or overflow on the occasion of the king's marriage. He's seeing something beautiful and something is in his heart. God, the Holy Spirit, put something in the heart of King David so that it would bubble up. My heart, my heart is indicting, it's bubbling up a good or gracious matter. And I believe that this refers to the gospel. It's the good news. It's good news that the God of heaven, who is thrice holy, who is holy, holy, holy, could impart love toward an unholy people, an imperfect people. It's a good matter. It's a good message. It's the true message of the King. He said, I speak of the things which I have made as touching the king, as referring to or connected to the king. My tongue is the pen of the ready writer. My tongue is a pen of the ready writer. Notice, he didn't say that my tongue is the one that originated the words that I'm going to speak, but he says I'm the instrument. I'm the pen. I'm the messenger. You see, the minister of the gospel is that, isn't he? He's not the originator of the gospel. He's just the conveying force that God incorporates to present and propagate His good word. He's of Himself nothing, but He's representing the great God of heaven. So here's David. And he's going to describe this in these picturesque words. He says, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. I'm ready. I'm useful in this production. Thou art fair, verse 2, thou art fairer than the children of men. It's interesting. that there's a repetition here. There's a double emphasis upon the word fairer in this text. It is beautiful, beautiful. Is he more than the children of men? Fair. It reminds us of how kings were described in the Old Testament. Remember, David and David's brother, they're described as being handsome. They're described as being fair. They're described as being men of renown, as it were, in 1 Samuel chapter 9, verse 2 and following. This is a common description, but he says something here. He's talking about the king of kings, and he's saying that he's fairer than any other king that's ever been given a throne. This is one that's, there's no comparison to this king than any other king. Grace is poured into his lips. In other words, these are anointed words that come from the lips of the Savior. In other words, in the New Testament, we read where Luke writes, Never a man spake as this man spake. for he spake as one having authority, not as the scribes and the Pharisees." No one is comparable to the way that Jesus Christ Himself would present the good news of His kingdom. And David is acknowledging that here. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever. He is, as it were, the anointed king. He is the anointed king. I'm mindful of Matthew chapter 2 verse 2, when the wise men came from the east, they said, they asked this question, where is he that is born king of the Jews? You remember that verse? Where is he? And they said, of course, that he was born in Bethlehem according to the scripture. But he is the anointed king who has these gracious words. Gracious words. What do you find gracious about the words of Jesus Christ this morning? Ah, there are many, aren't there? There are many. To the blind man, he would say, receive your sight. Do you think that that's a gracious word? For a blind man, a blind beggar to receive his sight? How about the woman that had an issue of blood for 12 years and suffered many things of the physicians and spent all that she had trying to seek a cure? And Jesus says, Thy faith hath made thee whole. Do you think that that's a gracious word? I believe it is. To the leper, be thou clean. To the deaf, hear. To the lame, walk. To the dead, rise. Do you believe that's a gracious word? Oh yes. incomparable. No other king in human history could ever speak those words to any benefit or to any efficacy. But the word of this king is able to provide that kind of healing and that kind of life. David, through the Spirit, is seeing that. He's seeing the king of kings, the anointed king. And then he says in verse 3, He says, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and majesty. Now the sword is emphasizing the victory in battle over the enemies of God, over the devil. This king is victorious. This king is conquering. This king is unfailing. This king cannot fail. what He says comes to pass. In Psalm 62 He says, Where the word of the king is, there's power. When He says, when He speaks life into the soul, it happens. when he draws people unto himself, they experience the glory and the grace of this king. That's why he would say in Matthew chapter 11, he would say this, in 28, Come unto all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Right? Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. You see, you shall find rest for your souls. When He speaks, it's always efficacious. It's always going to occur the way He says it will. And He's mentioning a sword. a sword with which he would defeat the foe, a sword with which he would defend and protect his queen. You see, that's a calling that men have to protect their wives, to protect their families. That's a chief calling, not only to provide for them, but to protect them. Because there's many enemies out there that seek to destroy it. Here He is, He says, gird up thy sword. I think about this in terms of Revelation chapter 19 verse 15, where the victorious Christ at the end of the age, the victorious Christ is coming with the sword. And with that sword He defeats the enemy. It's a wonderful picture of Jesus Christ this morning. O most mighty, with thy glory, and with thy majesty. You know, I'm not aware if anyone here can remember the marriage that you witness in England. I don't know if you've ever watched any of that, but it's majestic. I mean, all the pomp and all the trumpets and all of the guards, you know, they have thousands of armed guards lined up, and as the king and the queen pass before them, they salute in a very formal way. It's very picturesque. It's very formal. It's very impressive. But I'm going to tell you something this morning. Nothing compares to the marriage between this king and this queen. Nothing on earth could possibly compare to it. It's a beautiful event. And here is this great king, the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His glory, in all His majesty, he's going to present himself to his queen. In verse 4, And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of three things here, I want you to notice, because of truth, and because of meekness, and because of righteousness. I, I like what C. H. Spurgeon said about this particular verse. He said, Those are the three chargers that drive the chariot of his gospel. I, I, I like that. because the gospel of the king, the good news of the king is going to reflect truth, because the king is truth. He's the embodiment of truth, amen. You see, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes unto the Father except by me. There's an exclusivity with respect to this king. This king is the Lord Jesus Christ, the measure of truth. This king is the measure of meekness. Meekness is the temper of mind that is not easily provoked and quietly submits to the will of God in all things. It's power under control. And Jesus Christ is the greatest picture of that meekness, that picture of power under control. His truth and His meekness and of course His righteousness. I love what the Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians chapter 1 verses 30 and 31 that Christ is made unto us righteousness. It's a righteousness that God will accept. It's being right with God. through Jesus Christ. He has made our righteousness. Again, in the book of II Corinthians chapter 8, He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, in the King. He is the righteousness of God. So it is, the, the psalmist David is portraying Jesus as the King. And notice this in verse 4, and he shall teach thee terrible things. The word terrible there is from a Hebrew word that means awesome. Terrible is full of awe. It's, it's an event that causes awe when you see it. It's, it, it, it just takes your breath away. It's so magnificent. It's so big. It's so beautiful. Well, He shall teach the terrible things. I believe that's exactly what happened in Matthew chapter 17, when Peter, James, and John went up into a mountain with Jesus Christ, and Jesus was transfigured before them. They were able to see the inner glory that Jesus possessed. It came on the outside for a few moments, and they were able to see that. And Peter, oh, Peter was just like you and I. Oh, we need to build three altars here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. These are great and glorious men of God, right? And the father came and spoke to them and says, this is my son. He's the preeminent one. He's the King of Kings. Hear ye Him. I believe that that's a great and leading tenant of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ will always lift up the successful Savior. The church will always magnify the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the tree of the cross. The church that Jesus built will always defend the principle that what Jesus came to do in His redemptive work could not be overthrown. We do not believe that He died for every human being, but those for whom He did die are going to be with Him in glory without the loss of one. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is always going to maintain the prosperity of their king. He prospers in everything that he does. So here he is, he's described, and it's awesome. It's awesome. And he says this in verse 5, Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. that, my brothers and sisters, is a description of the divine decree, the divine will of God, the divine purpose of God is going to come to pass. What God speaks is going to happen. I love the doctrine of God's sovereignty, that He rules over all, both good and bad, and everything in time and eternity is fixed in the mind and purpose of an eternal God. And there's a lot of different names for that, brothers and sisters, but whatever it is, you can lay that on me, because I believe that God is absolutely sovereign over all things. This is the king. His arrows aren't going to miss their mark. His arrows are not going to miss. There are many politicians today in our own country that believe they're getting away with everything. There's no accountability. They do all of these evil things and get away with it, they think. But one of these days they're going to stand before the God of heaven, before the judge of all the earth, and they're going to give account to Him, brothers and sisters. You better believe His arrows are going to find their mark, because He's the King of kings. He cannot fail. They're sharp. And notice, they're not just sharp in the hand, they're sharp in the heart. He hits the mark. And brothers and sisters, He's going to accomplish the will that He has stated from eternity past. He quotes this. He says, Thy throne, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. It's, it's a righteous scepter. Now we think about this in the context of the covenant relationship that God had with David. Remember what we read in II Samuel chapter 7 verse 15, that, that God made a covenant with King David. And, and, and God raised up David to sit upon the throne and his descendants after him. But brothers and sisters, I, I, I believe by extension when you, when you look at the reign of King David and Solomon and you look down through the corridors of time until Jesus Christ came, He is the fulfillment of that covenant, that, that Jesus Christ is sitting upon the throne of David as it were in a covenant relationship with His people. And I believe He's reigning today. He's upon that throne today. When He ascended up into glory, He sat down at the right hand of the Father, and He's making intercession for His bride. He's going to make intercession for you and I today. Isn't that marvelous? Thy throne, O God. This is the throne of David which was established in Solomon, but ultimately is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Paul wrote in Hebrews chapter 1 verses 8 and 9, he quoted this very verse in Hebrews 1, 8 and 9 to refer to Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of this covenant promise that this kingdom and this throne would be forever. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness. Verse 7, Therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now catch that, above thy fellows. Did you know that King David was a warrior king? He was a mighty king in his day. Solomon was a wise king in his day. and, and there were a lot of good things that they did for the country. There were a lot of, of good things that happened under their administration. And when you study the kings of Judah, they had several good kings through which God blessed their nation. But there was one king that would outshine them all. There's one king that would accomplish more than all of them put together, and that king is named Jesus. This, of course, describes expensive fragrances that are very appropriate for a royal wedding. But I want to note that these are the very ingredients that make up a royal wedding. And I want to note that these are the very ingredients that make up a royal wedding. that were prescribed by God for the producing of the holy oil found in Exodus chapter 30 verses 23 and 24. This holy oil that would be used to anoint three particular offices. They would be used to anoint the priest. This ointment would be used to anoint the prophets. This ointment would be used to anoint the king, prophet, priest, and king. And do you realize that all three of these great offices find their greatest expression in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus is King of Kings, but He's also our prophet. He's also our high priest. And as our high priest, He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Hebrews 7, 25. He ever lives to reflect the welfare and care and concern of His people. David is seeing this a thousand years before Jesus came. He's seeing the Messiah by the Holy Spirit. In verse 9, King's daughters were among the honorable women, upon by right hand did stand the queen. Here's the queen now, the queen in the gold of Ophir. Here's the royal bride, brothers and sisters. Here's the queen, and I believe this is the Lord's people. that are referred to over and over again as his bride. I want you to just let that sink in. We are the bride of Christ, the chosen bride of Jesus Christ. and he's going to describe several of her wonderful characteristics as well as his own. I want you to turn quickly. I just want to make a few quick references to Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 61, in Isaiah 61 verse 10. I want you to turn there with me real quick. I want you to see the connection between the king and the queen in prophetic scripture. Listen to what God said. God said in Isaiah 61 verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he God hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom." Notice this. "...as the king, as the husband, as the bridegroom, decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride..." Here's the queen. adorns herself with jewels. And notice in chapter 62 verse 5, For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Oh brothers and sisters, the world may not rejoice over you this morning. The world might not. The world might not care less about what's going on in your heart, in your life, and in our assembly this morning. But there's a God in heaven that does. And He rejoices over you this morning. Now go back to our study in Psalm 45. Here's the queen. And the queen is going to be adorned by the husbandman with the gold of Ophir, which is symbolic of her purity, of her beauty. What have we learned thus far about this king? This king, I believe, is Christ. The husband and his church is the queen. The king's beauty is beyond description and shared with the queen. The king's power protects and defends the queen, which is his bride. His father delights in him and anoints him to reign with joy, and that joy is reflected in the queen. It's reflected in the life of the bride. The king shares his glory with his bride and delights in her. The bride then turns and submits to the authority of the king with joy and adoration. Listen in verse 10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thine ear. Forget also thine own people in thy father's house. I believe what he's doing here is calling her to be separate. Come ye out from among them. Be ye separate. There's a calling. of God's people that we're supposed to be different from the culture in which we're placed. We're supposed to be different. We're supposed to be the light of the Lord Jesus Christ in a dark, ungodly, sinful world. We're His messengers. We're His representatives because we belong to Him. He's purchased us with His own blood. He's purchased us. He says, I want you to lay aside your own people, even your father's house. So, in verse 11, So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. Taking the name of Jesus Christ requires release from all others, in respect to priority, in respect to fellowship. This to me, this to me is a very important point concerning the Christian doctrine, the Christian influence, the Christian life in the world around us. Somebody says, well, Brother Jeff, I think the Church needs to go woke. I, I, I think the church needs to be woke. We, we need to be woke so we can woke up this generation. But brothers and sisters, that's blind. That's not bringing glory to the name of the King. That's not advancing His kingdom. That's advancing the kingdom of darkness. And when we compromise truth with error, we are going inadvertently to bring reproach upon our King. And we can't do that. David's words are very clear to us as well today. We want our great King to desire our beauty, to desire to be in fellowship with us, His presence in our assembly. Worship thou Him. He walks. Now people don't understand this, but you need to. Jesus walks in the midst of His churches. In Revelation 2 and 3, He's walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. He's in the midst. He's in the middle. He's the great priority of His churches. Where there are, in Matthew chapter 18, verse 20, He says, Where there are two or three gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them. He's here, and He's gathering fruit from the hearts of His people, because He deserves our praise. He's worthy of our best efforts to serve Him. Christ's redeeming love makes the church beautiful in His eyes. The Apostle Paul used that metaphor, didn't he, in Ephesians 5, when he says in verse 25, Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the church, and what? And gave Himself for it. You see, it's a sacrificial love, isn't it? Isn't it beautiful that Jesus would teach us through example that kind of love? Yes, worship Him, adore Him. He walks among His churches. He says this in verse 12, And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. I believe that that's a reference to the Gentiles being converted to the truth of Christ. And brothers and sisters, let me hasten to say this morning, that I believe one of the greatest heresies that we see being advanced in our generation is the idea that multitudes of people out here have eternal salvation without knowing, loving, believing, or trusting in Jesus Christ. That's heretical. I'm going to come right out and call it what it is. That's a heresy. It's a departure from biblical truth. Brothers and sisters, there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. He's the only King that can save His bride. And I don't want to cheapen the sacrifices that Christ has made in our salvation by claiming that myriads of people will never know Him and wonder, why in the world would I be in heaven? This isn't where I want to be. Why am I here? Can you imagine? Brothers and sisters, that's heresy. Gentiles are, and when I say Gentiles, I'm talking about the elect among the Gentiles, are converted to Christ. That's who I think about when I think about Cornelius over in Romans chapter 10. Brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, it was important, it was imperative in the plan and purpose of God for Peter to go preach the gospel to that man. Now the Gospel did not make him a child of God. The Gospel is not making you children of God. It's not making you into the bride of Christ. Only the Spirit of God can do that kind of work. But the Gospel manifests what we are inside, what we are before God. And we, by God's sovereign grace, are drawn to the Savior. And God uses the means of the gospel to present the view of Christ, to present Him as King of kings, you see? And the king's daughter is, listen, the king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. But I want you to understand that that wrought, that work, is not the work of men. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one that adorns the people of God, that gives the heart to Lydia, to open her heart to receive the Word that was proclaimed by the Apostle Paul. Do you see that? Do you understand that? And the Apostle Paul made that very, very clear in Romans chapter 15, verse 16. He made it very clear for us that God had hidden this mystery in times of past, but now those among the Gentiles would be called by sovereign grace into fellowship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. What a great and glorious truth. She is clothed with wrought gold. It's the gold, as it were, the pure gold of the Holy Spirit. glorious within by the imputed righteousness of the king, and clothed with the active obedience of faith and good works." This is how she's identified. And she shall be brought unto the king in the raiment of needlework. Something very effectual, something very beautiful here. And the virgins of her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. This is the court. you know, the ancient queens would have their handmaids, their courtiers, helpers, as it were. And we reflect that, by the way, in our marriages, don't we? You know, the husband will have a best man, and then he'll have men beside him, and then the bride will have a bridesmaid, and then women that she's close to, that's her court, her courtiers. Here it is, he says, he says, and I believe this is concerning the Gentiles, the elect among the Gentiles are going to be brought into this wedding, this marriage ceremony along with the Jewish believers, and they're going to be together wed to the king with gladness. Notice verse 15, with gladness and rejoicing, shall they be brought? How are they going to be brought? You know, when I was a young boy, now this is back in the dark ages, but when I was a little boy, I can remember those old men getting down on their knees and begging God to bring the unbrought. I asked my daddy one time, I said, Daddy, what does that mean, unbrought? If they're unbrought, shouldn't we go pick them up and bring them to church? I couldn't understand what they were saying. And my dad explained to me what he's talking about is those that haven't been born again, that you would bring them. Born them again and bring them to your house. That's what they were praying for. When I was a little boy, you heard that a lot. You don't hear that much anymore. You don't hear that much anymore. Well, with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's palace. Oh, what a beautiful place, the king's palace, where according to the words of Solomon, he brought me to his banqueting house and his banner over me was love. See, brothers and sisters, because of our sin, because of our failures, we have created a gap, an abyss between us and the holiness of God, and there's no way we can work ourselves into fellowship with Him. God had to provide His Son to take our sins upon the tree of the cross and to pay the debt that we rightfully owed God in order for us to be brought into fellowship with Him, because God can't look upon sin. Why do you think when Jesus Christ hung upon the cross that He cried out, Eli, Eli, lam spok tenai, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me or abandoned me? You know why? Because God can't look upon sin. Even the stars are unclean in His eyes, the Bible says. He can't look upon sin. So what Jesus Christ came to do, was to take that sin away. So that when God the Father looked upon the bride, He would see the glory and righteousness of His Son. The beauty of His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the beauty of the true gospel. That's the beauty of the church. with gladness," notice, "...with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children." I believe that this is anticipated offspring in the perpetual reign of the king. Somebody once asked me, Brother Jeff, don't you think that the church really has served its purpose and that's why it's in decline today because it's actually fulfilled what God determined to be done. And, and God doesn't need the church anymore. Well, let me, let me tell you something. The Bible teaches us in the perpetuity of His church. The Bible teaches us in the perpetuity of His church. when he said to Peter in Matthew chapter 16, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not what? Prevail against it. That is a sure promise that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be in the earth until Jesus comes again. somewhere. I pray that it's in Mayhew. I pray that it's here. I'm in prayer that it's in Faulkner. Wherever God has planted His church, I pray that we'll be faithful unto death and be here when Jesus comes again. For His glory and His honor, He says, I will make, verse 17, I will make thy name to be remembered in some generations. Is that what you're saying? Oh, no, no, no. Wrong translation there, because it says in all generations. I believe that means as long as the earth stands, he's going to have a witness in the earth. His church is going to be here to all generations. Therefore, he says, therefore, shall the people praise thee." How long? How long are we going to be praising Him? How long are we going to be adoring the Lord Jesus Christ? Forever and ever. And you know, brothers and sisters, that's a great privilege. To me, that's a great tenant of the gospel message. Because a lot of people today, and you meet them, you have friends, neighbors, perhaps, that tell you, you know, I've spent my wad, I'm getting close to the end of my journey, and it's been a good life, and when I die, it's all over. It's done. My life is over. There's no such thing as heaven and hell. That was just a teaching that was designed to scare children. something like that let me tell you something the soul that you and I have is going to live beyond what this body experiences one of the I like what Peter said Peter called it a tabernacle you know what a tabernacle is its tent You know, it's a tent. One of these days, Peter says, I'm going to fold up this tent. It's a temporary dwelling. That's all it is. But ah, the soul, the you that is you, the real you, is going to live on. And it won't. And the truth is, and I'm telling you the gospel truth, the truth is that there's only one of two places that that soul is going to exist in. And that's either going to be in heaven above or in hell beneath. And brothers and sisters, if it wasn't for our King, if it wasn't for the sacrifice of our Savior up on the tree of the cross, if it wasn't for Him paying that debt on our behalf, every one of us would spend eternity in hell. But because and by virtue of His grace, because and by virtue of His will, of His decree, of His purpose, He chose us in Christ. before the foundation of the world, that we should stand holy and without blame before Him in love. That's why I treasure the doctrines of grace. It's the only truth that can set us free. It's the only reality that can identify the true Church, where you find the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, that's His bride. That's, that's His Church, blood-bought and heaven-bound. And this morning I hope you and I can rejoice in that wedding song of Psalm 45, and by God's grace I hope you can apply it to your own heart. to your own life, that you can rejoice and worship the King that loved us and gave Himself for us for all eternity. Thank you for your good attention. God bless you.